“You have to do more than make ten saves to win a game”: Jake Sanderson throws his goalie under the bus

Mathis Therrien
“You have to do more than make ten saves to win a game”: Jake Sanderson throws his goalie under the bus
Credit: Twitter screenshot

The Montreal Canadiens barely escaped with a win last night against the Ottawa Senators, who dominated the game.

The Habs didn't play a great game of hockey, but they still managed to come away from Ottawa with two points.

Let's just say that with 10 shots after two periods and 19 shots in total, the Habs didn't manage to have an easy game.

Nevertheless, talent made the difference, as the Habs came from behind with two quick goals late in the third period.

Of course, Ottawa Senators goaltender Leevi Meriläinen was not at his best in this game, allowing six goals on 19 shots.

Moreover, Jake Sanderson, who had a very strong four-point game, didn't hesitate after the game to throw his goalie under the bus, explaining that it takes more than ten saves to win a game.

Yes, you heard right, the Sens defenseman had no mercy for his goalie, as he clearly criticized his work by implying that he hadn't made enough saves.

That's a big statement in my book, and shows just how different the Senators' culture and atmosphere is from that of the Canadiens.

This kind of comment has never been made, or would be made, about one of the team's goalies after a poor performance.

Especially since, in Leevi Meriläinen's case, he's a young 23-year-old goaltender who had to take over from Linus Ullmark, and yesterday was making his tenth start in a row.

It's a very ordinary thing for Sanderson to do, and it's causing him to lose a lot of feathers, if you ask me.

The Canadiens' comeback is certainly partly due to Meriläinen's performance, but he's clearly not the only one to blame.

This kind of late-game collapse shouldn't happen when you dominate a game and limit your opponent to fewer than 20 shots, as the Senators did last night.

The whole team is to blame for different reasons, so it's clearly misplaced frustration on Sanderson's part to throw his goalie under the bus like that.

How must he feel after hearing this? He feels he no longer has the trust of his team, and that's the worst possible situation for a goalkeeper, as he'll be playing in a stressed-out manner from now on.

In short, hats off to the entire Montreal Canadiens organization and to Martin St-Louis for building a team with an exemplary culture and a pleasant atmosphere.

It's clearly not something to be taken for granted in a locker room, and we have proof of that with this terrible comment from Jake Sanderson.


Overtime

– Listen now.

– Amazing!

– To be continued.

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